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Fighting Heart Disease
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?
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TRADITION from page 79

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82

trays people as short and stocky. The
paintings, he says, just seem to turn
out that way.
Small Town, oil on canvas, offers a
clear example of the tinged memories. A
shoeshine man, three other men in con-
versation and a lady with a parasol grace
the canvas, all appearing like they are
members of the same family. The build-
ings, also completed in look-alike fashion,
seem to tilt and almost be in motion.
Man and Woman, pencil drawing on
paper, centers the artist in his recur-
ring use of the clock to show the pass-
ing of time, in this instance shared by
a couple sitting on a bench. Poet and
Muse, oil on canvas, brings a supernat-
ural creature into an everyday scene.
The paintings are all part of looking
for my own identity," the artist says.
"They also show how people interact."
Kanchik, born in Moldavia, moved
with his family from Kishinev to
Sevastopol in the Crimea when he was
only 1 year old. Painting became an
important interest just before high school,
and the hobby intensified each year.
The artist went on to study at
Samokish Crimean Academy for Art
from 1978-1984 with time out to
serve in the military. After graduation,
he enrolled in the Academy of Theatre
and Cinematography in St. Petersburg,
where he earned a master's degree in
painting in 1989.
With a year of experience at the
Luchafarul Theatre in Kishinev,

Kanchik immigrated to Israel in 1990.
"Once I moved to Israel, there were
more vibrant colors in the paintings
and more life to them," says Kanchik,
whose Russian experience also
involved doing frescoes and stage
designs. "The people became well
groomed and smiling. They were not
that way before."
Among the artist's series have been
"Walking Through Luxemburg
Garden," inspired by a trip to Paris in
1998, and "Carnival Night," inspired
by a trip to Los Angeles and Las Vegas
later that year.
Although he has had some solo
exhibitions in the United States and
Israel, Kanchik's works more frequent-
ly have been part of larger group exhi-
bitions that have extended his audi-
ence in Russia, Belgium and France.
"I've used 18th-century subjects to
show politics, and I've done circus
scenes with acrobats in performance,"
Kanchik says. "I've done a lot of music
scenes — cellists, people listening to
gramophones and singers at the opera."
Not a religious man, Kanchik has
captured religious moments, such as a
Purim parade with people in costume.
Moving away from the classical dis-
cipline of his early studies, Kanchik's
paintings have evolved into a style
labeled "classic modernism." He
employs allegorical references, symbol-
ism and sentimental nostalgia.
"Kanchik's works are most reminis-
cent of the Baroque style, notable for its

mystical, rich textures and exaggerated
lighting," says Canadian art critic and
collector Dov Liber. "Each painting
holds history yet is not limited by-it.
"Of all the forces within Kanchik's
paintings, it is the characters that
inhabit them that are deserving of the
richest appreciation. Each figure is a
combination of things childlike and
adult, their features at once both old
and young, innocent yet experienced.
Their faces are clear and open, yet
their large eyes stare out at us and
whisper of things unknown."
Kanchik would like to move his fami-
ly to the United States, where he believes
he could make his paintings better
known. In metro Detroit, the artist
already has won the admiration of Dr.
and Mrs. Abe Gershonowicz, Mr. and
Mrs. Sam Volk and Mr. and Mrs. Jack
Bletstein, all of whom collect his work.
"Artists always have difficult times,
but I think there would be more oppor-
tunities if I moved," Kanchik said. ❑

,

"Pictures of My Childhood
Town" runs Oct. 22-Nov. 12
at the Danielle Peleg Gallery,
4301 Orchard Lake Road, West
Bloomfield. An opening champagne
reception introduces the artist
1-5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22. Gallery
hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-
Saturdays and noon-5 p.m.
Sundays-Mondays. (248) 626-5810.

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